Harald Sigurdsson

Kyriakos

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I would like to ask if you have any information about this king of Norway, apart from the generalities that i can find myself in articles here and there :) I am particularly interested in the Sagas depiction of him, and also on Byzantine documentation of his skill as a warrior.

Harald died in 1066 in the battle of Stamford Bridge, during his invasion of England following the rise to the throne of Harold, and regional dynastic chain-events which lasted for years after the later death of Harold himself in Hastings.

Harald became king of Norway in 1046, following his return from exile and his many battles as leader of the famous Varangian Guard, in the Byzantine Empire.
I had read of him before, while examining some articles about the Bayeoux Tapestry (a depiction of the conquest of England by William, in 1066), but later on read some outlines of the revolt of George Maniaces, a Byzantine General who was the local ruler of Italy for the Empire. Harald had fought together with Maniaces during the earlier partial re-conquest of Sicily from the Arabs. Maniaces eventually got pronounced by his troops as the Emperor, and tried to secure the throne by marching to Constantinople, but was defeated and killed near Thessalonike. Harald was not a victim of the civil war, and in 1042 left the Empire so as to return to his native land, wealthy from the nomismata he had sent to his domain in Rus, and later used to secure the throne after some schemes in Denmark.

I read that he is often regarded as "the last great Viking" or even the last viking, in general, as a synekdoche.

Harald_Hardrada_window_in_Kirkwall_Cathedral_geograph_2068881.jpg
 
He forced his brother to share the throne with him, and as far as I recall he was the most aggresive king to force the people to adopt christianity. Previous kings allowed some religious freedom, but Harald got those who didn't want to convert killed.
His "title" "Hardråde" (If anyone says "Hårdråde", I've never heard that in Norway") means something along the line of "hard/tough ruler"

I don't really know anything about what he did in Byzantium, but the wealth he aquired there was essential (eccensial?) to his rule in Norway, as giving gifts was important to get support.
 
:)

I read that he took part in a great many campaigns of the Empire, mostly against arabs in Mesopotamia or in Sicily. He was, as mentioned in the OP, the leader of the Varangian Guard at the time. It is (in retrospect) a sort of 'tragic irony' that the Varangian Guard was heavily dominated by Norse people, until around Harald's death to anglo-saxon forces in northern England, cause the resulting invasion by William of Normandy forced thousands of anglo-saxons to travel by ships to Constantinople, and in the early 1070s they were now the majority of the Varangians.
 
In Norway, where he was king. It was basically "convert or I'll kill you", I believe.

Not so bad! :)

I've read that in Poland during reign of Bolesław Chrobry (992 - 1025) you could get your teeth knocked out as penalty for not observing Christian fasts. Probably that was virtually equal to death by starvation penalty, considering that they didn't know artificial teeth at that time. No surprising that in 1038 - after the reign of Mieszko II (Bolesław's heir) a so called "pagan reaction" (major anti-Christian rebellion) took place in Greater Poland province. So in theory Poland adopted Christianity in 966, but in reality it took a century or two before entire population became "convinced Christians". I suppose the same applied to Scandinavian countries which were Christianized around the same time. Perhaps long after official Christianization, many people were still believing in pagan gods.
 
He forced his brother to share the throne with him, and as far as I recall he was the most aggresive king to force the people to adopt christianity. Previous kings allowed some religious freedom, but Harald got those who didn't want to convert killed.
His "title" "Hardråde" (If anyone says "Hårdråde", I've never heard that in Norway") means something along the line of "hard/tough ruler"

I don't really know anything about what he did in Byzantium, but the wealth he aquired there was essential (eccensial?) to his rule in Norway, as giving gifts was important to get support.

In Denmark we say Harald Hårderåde :)
 
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